Summer For The Broke
by AveraIllisa
Summary: There's not exactly much fun one can engage in during summer with an empty pocket. For utterly broke students Sakata Gintoki and Shimura Shinpachi, summer meant work and part-time jobs - like babysitting a one year-old kid by the name of Kagura. Oneshot. (Lousy summary; also my first Gintama fanfic. Reviews appreciated!)


**Hey, all! This is my first Gintama fanfic, so the characters might be a bit OOC . Anyway, before you read on, let me just inform you that this story is set in a modern, normal-life AU. Their ages are also different, BTW – Gin is in his late teens, maybe 18-20, and Shinpachi is a preteen, maybe 13-14. And Kagura…well, you get the picture. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoy! **

**Summer For The Broke**

For many teenagers, the definition of 'summer' meant long, hot days free of dreary schedules and the occasional obligation. It meant lounging with friends upon the beach, hanging out at shopping malls and other pleasurable places that practically screamed 'fun'. Basically, when the summer holidays finally rolled around, many students of young and old could be seen sharing mutual sighs of relief, grateful that the tedious school semester had finally been brought to an end – and of course, exhilaration and excitement would ensue as kids from all around the globe jogged out of school with the notion of nothing but enjoyable times ahead.

But, of course, if you were unlucky enough to be downright broke during the summertime, there wasn't exactly much 'fun' you could engage in with an empty pocket.

Unfortunately for them, Sakata Gintoki and Shimura Shinpachi were, in fact, such people. However, the simple words of 'being broke' did not exactly do their current state much justice; it wasn't just the summertime in which they were extremely short on cash, but, basically said, the whole year round. Indeed, these two had the luck to be such students that had pockets simply consisting of empty air and vacancy, all year round.

So, as many people could already foresee, their summertime was not exactly made up of fun times – mainly, it involved scouring the land for legitimate jobs that offered decent payment. In fact, the two were so short on money they would basically accept any sort of work, as long as an acceptable amount of cash was given at the end of the day. Despite this sort of thinking, however, many people did not exactly hire them for even the most petty of dirty jobs, considering that a two-person team consisting of a lazy-ass late teen and an inexperienced preteen did not inspire much confidence. So, _unfortunately, _despite their title of 'Odd Jobs' and their willingness to do any sort of work, the duo still had the misfortune to be ridiculously, utterly broke for the entirety of their summertime.

Recently, however, their luck seemed to be changing.

After weeks upon weeks of searching – in vain – for a legit job, Shinpachi finally managed to snag decent work from a parent as a babysitter for their one year-old baby daughter. Sure, the two hadn't the faintest idea of how one should care for a child – much less a barely one year-old little girl – but considering that luck hadn't exactly been on their side for the majority of the holidays, the sudden appearance of a job – whatever it may be – would be something they jumped at the chance at, regardless of whether they had the skills or knowledge to fulfill such a task. Shinpachi had, of course, been slightly skeptical at accepting a job that required such experience and awareness, but Gintoki had managed to convince him by simply stating, in his usual flat, bored tone: "How hard could caring for one kid be?"

Well, it turned out to be _very _difficult indeed, but of course they hadn't the faintest idea what they were walking into.

The aforementioned baby girl, a vermillion-haired child christened with the name of Kagura, had promptly began wailing as soon as the two had set foot beyond the door. Her crying was persistent, relentless, and unfortunately, very ridiculously loud. And now, we could see the dark haired preteen, the screaming child bundled in his arms, dithering by the sofa in which the silver haired man had sprawled himself onto. The bespectacled boy simply stood there looking perplexed and very concerned, while his white-haired senior took the scenario with the same dead-fish eyes people always associated him with.

"Um, Gin-san, I really think we should do something about this," Shinpachi suggested, smoothening out the little girl's locks of vermillion red hair as if that simple gesture would be enough to calm the shrieking girl down. He was rocking her back and forth, but the only thing he succeeded in accomplishing was making the wails louder and, therefore, much worse. The boy turned to his senior, exasperated. "Gin-san!"

"Whaaat?" the white-haired one turned to look at his dark haired junior. His carnelian red eyes slid down to glance at the child flailing in Shinpachi's arms, as if noticing her for the first time. "Just give her some milk or something – ain't that what baby's eat?"

"I've tried that already, Gin-san," Shinpachi was beginning to feel downright cross with the older man. Considering that their pay depended on them caring for the well-being of their client's child, he expected a better behavior from the silver-perm. "She can't be crying for no reason!"

"Maybe she just doesn't like you, Pattsuan," Gintoki yawned and remained indifferent, running his hands through his curly pale hair.

"What do you mean by that!?"

"Your face must look too scary," the older man flipped through the Jump magazine he had brought with him to his client's household, unfazed by the anger veins popping out from the younger boy's head. "Maybe once you put her down, she'll stop."

"For heaven's sake, Gin-san!" Shinpachi was downright pissed now. In fact, he was barely suppressing the urge of hurling something at the silver-perm man – preferably something heavy that would most likely leave a bruise. "She's freaking crying right now and won't stop, and if we don't calm her down we're not gonna get PAID!"

For Gintoki, 'not gonna' and 'get paid' was something that should NEVER be strung together in the same sentence, and Shinpachi's rant had consisted of all such words. He finally set the comic down and stood up, scratching his head at the sight of the wailing child. Shinpachi's shoulders relaxed a tad – FINALLY, Gintoki had gotten off his lazy hide and decided to help out in this situation.

"Oi, oi, what the hell is wrong with you?" the silver-haired man plucked the shrieking child from Shinpachi's arms, lifting her up so that her face, reddened from crying, was level with his own. Sure enough, Shinpachi's 'scary face' wasn't the cause for such a dilemma – her unrelenting sobs resumed, unbroken, even as Gintoki lifted her out of the younger boy's arms. He turned the shrieking baby this way and that, and finally ended up hoisting her upside-down by the ankles as if searching for an off switch. "Where's the volume button on this thing?"

"Don't just hold her upside-down!" Shinpachi removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily, wondering how his senior could be so oblivious to how one should care for a newborn child. He seized the flailing girl from the silver-haired man before more damaged could be done to the child's fragile psyche. "And what do you mean, 'volume button'!? What do you think Kagura-chan is, a robo-"

Shinpachi's outburst ceased mid-sentence, noticing the sudden change in atmosphere or, more precisely, the sudden lack of sound. He and Gintoki both turned to fixate their gazes on the baby girl, bundled in the bespectacled youth's arms, whom was wailing hysterically just moments prior. Her eyes, despite being still damp with tears, had abruptly stopped producing new ones, and the piercing shrieks that had pierced the air earlier with heightened vigor had also ceased unexpectedly. The girl now simply sat, silent and calm, in Shinpachi's folded arms, gazing at them with huge, cerulean blue eyes. Gintoki scratched his head and turned to the floor-to-ceiling windows affixed to the wall behind him, spilling outside sunlight into the interior of the home. The silver perm then proceeded to take the child from Shinpachi's arms and bathe her in the golden glow, and, sure enough, as soon as the radiance washed over her pale skin, her face scrunched up into the beginning of a piercing wail.

"Someone sure ain't a fan of sunlight," Gintoki declared, hastily bringing the sobbing child away from the luminous glows of the outside rays. His face had reverted to its previous impassive expression as he handed the now unruffled baby back into Shinpachi's arms. "Problem solved."

Shinpachi reluctantly took Kagura back into his arms, half-expecting the child to begin screaming again as soon as she settled back into his hands – but sure enough, she remained silent and calm, simply gazing around the room in the curious way babies often do. He hugged the child to his chest and smiled and relief, grateful that the whole predicament had been resolved.

When Shinpachi emerged from the child's room after gingerly setting baby Kagura back into her crib and rocking her to sleep, he once again saw his white-haired senior perched languidly upon the sofa, flicking through the yellowed pages of an old edition of Jump. Shinpachi just pursed his lips and sighed, but didn't really contradict the silver-perm on his actions, however irresponsible they may be. Interrupting Gintoki during his Jump episodes wasn't exactly the brightest of ideas, and anyway, nothing the bespectacled, dark haired teen said could really alter the way the man did things. It was simply how he was, and how he worked, no matter how broke and low on cash they may be.

But of course, it didn't really take long before Kagura began wailing again. The sound of such screeching was, unfortunately, not missed by the two males lounging about the living room, and they both shared a mutual wince as soon as her high-pitched cries began permeating the air. Shinpachi once again brought the thrashing little girl back to the living room, whereas the silver-perm man simply stared down at the illustrations printed upon the comic as though ignoring the current situation was the best way to handle a shrieking child.

"Now what does she want?" Gintoki grunted, exasperated with the girl's constant wails. Shinpachi could only return his look of disdain, and simply perched himself on the couch with a defeated expression. She was nowhere near any source of sunlight, so what could be bothering her on this occasion? The screeches were even more hysterical than before, and the two males just stared at the vermillion-haired little girl as if their gazes alone could halt the steady streams of tears running down her pale, petite cheeks.

After several attempts at calming the shrieking girl down – all of which emerged with unsuccessful results – the first-time babysitters could only gaze, crushed, at the relentless torrent of wails emanating from the redhead child. Even Gintoki had momentarily cast his compulsive Jump-reading habits aside – albeit momentarily – to deal with this situation, and had equipped himself with a baby rattle and a fluffy teddy bear donning a bowtie, both of which he had scrounged up from a toy box in the child's bedroom. Despite constantly shaking the rattle and waggling the stuffed toy in small Kagura's face, she wasn't calming down, and Shinpachi was beginning to grow concerned over the welfare of the child. Surely babies shouldn't be crying THIS much, should they? What could be upsetting her?

"You know, Pattsuan-" Gintoki jabbed the rattler towards the window, indicating that Shinpachi should turn his attention to the glass panes. "-if worse comes worst, we chuck her outside and bolt. You get me?"

"Like hell!" Shinpachi hugged the shrieking child to his chest and glared at his senior, incredulous that he would even suggest such a thing. Kagura's tiny hands bunched up into fists, and she was screaming so hard her face had turned crimson. After Gintoki's little 'statement', the crying had turned into outright screeching, and the ludicrously loud shrieks cut into the sitter's ears like knives. "Now look what you've done! Kagura-chan's crying even harder now!"

"Was it really my fault?" Gintoki raised an eyebrow, then exhaled wearily when Shinpachi drilled accusing brown eyes into his. Waving off the younger boy's reproachful stare, the silver-haired man leaned in closer to the wailing child and half-heartedly rattled the children's toy in her face. For a moment, the crying ceased, and curious cerulean eyes, moistened with tears, turned to stare in the direction of the natural perm.

A triumphant grin creased the man's face. "Heh, look at that! She finally stopped."

Then, abruptly, the vermillion-haired child wrenched the plaything from Gintoki's hand and smashed it over his head. The rattle emitted a noise like crashing cymbals as it collided with the permed silver head, and Gintoki let out a sound that resembled a cross between a half-grunt and a muffled whimper.

Now it was Shinpachi's turn to smile, and apparently Kagura's too, as the two of them gazed upon the bruised man with expressions that could only be categorized as barely concealed amusement. That is, Shinpachi's was barely concealed. Kagura, however, was displaying her glee quite blatantly – her stubby legs were kicking the air as she let out uncontrollable bursts of giggles. Gintoki glared at her through his fringe of white hair, massaging the injury she had inflicted on his scalp. "Oh, so that's funny, is it?"

Shinpachi promptly informed the bruised man that what had just occurred was plenty funny. "Because even though Kagura-chan is still just a baby, she already knows how to identify useless adults that think chucking a baby out of the window is the perfect solution to crying problems!"

Gintoki simply let out a _harrumph _that was undoubtedly his response to the younger boy's remark, and rubbed the still stinging sore the little vermillion-haired gladiator had bestowed upon his silver head. He glanced down at the still sniggering child nestled in Shinpachi's arms with a look of reproach. "Say whatever you want, Pattsuan, but if that little demon you're holding in your hands decides to deliver another blow to her Uncle Gin, she's _definitely _going out the window."

oooOOOooo

Despite the rocky beginning in their babysitting career, the next few hours flew by rather smoothly in comparison. Ever since baby Kagura had cracked her rattle across her white-haired babysitter's head, she had been in a somewhat bubbly mood and, thankfully, hadn't broke into a crying fit since. Though both Shinpachi and Gintoki were relieved at the sudden lack of piercing wails and flailing arms, Gintoki had to remark upon why Kagura always looked so goddamn _happy _whenever she saw him nursing his still aching bruise.

"Oi, oi, you little gorilla, what the hell is so funny?" Gintoki cocked a skeptical eyebrow at Shinpachi's direction – or, more specifically, Kagura's direction, whom was currently chuckling at the sight of the silver-haired man massaging his stinging scalp. It had been roughly half-an-hour since she had delivered the blow, but it seemed like the pain was taking its own sweet time to subside – which begged the question, just how strong was the little kid?

"Ah, Gin-san, I think you already know the answer to that question," Shinpachi chuckled to himself, ruffling the short locks of vermillion hair that adorned the small head. Gintoki could only shake his head, but the younger boy could see through the annoyed façade the older man was displaying – that he himself too was somewhat amused at the endeavor of the small child, despite it being at his expense. Shinpachi cradled Kagura in his arms in a soothing motion, grinning as he watched her rub at her sleepy eyes with stubby fingers.

"Ah, looks like Kagura-chan is a bit sleepy," Shinpachi stated, continuing his ministrations in hopes that the somewhat hyperactive baby would finally give into the peaceful notion of sleep. Gintoki cocked an eyebrow curiously, glancing up from the pages of his Jump to gaze upon the yawning child nestled in Shinpachi's arms. Her diminutive head lay against the bespectacled boy's chest as tiny cerulean eyes slid closed. The sight of Kagura, slumbering in the dark-haired preteen's hands, would've melted the hearts of even the most cold-hearted individuals, and Shinpachi, undoubtedly, was no exclusion to this rule. His smile stretched across his face broadly at the adorable sight, and even Gintoki, whom was well-known for his tendency to be quite impassive to most situations, couldn't help leaning closer to gaze upon the cute spectacle.

Soon, Shinpachi had returned the snoozing child to her place in the crib and gingerly pulled the cartoon-patterned duvet over her petite body. Pleased with himself, the boy then proceeded to exit the room as silently as his feet could permit, cautious not to disturb the girl's doze. Upon finally leaving the premise, he lightly shut the door behind him and made his way back towards the living room, in which Gintoki was currently fingering the yellowed pages of his manga, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hm?" Shinpachi's eyebrows rose, noticing the older man's solemn expression. He seated himself on the couch opposite him and inquired curiously: "Is there something up, Gin-san?"

The man didn't reply immediately; he set his old edition of Jump aside and stretched himself lethargically across the couch. Dead fish eyes gazed skyward, still lost within his thoughts. "You know, Pattsuan…"

Shinpachi waited inquisitively.

"Maybe we should do more of this 'babysitting' business."

Shinpachi's eyebrows rose to his hairline. Say what you may, but the dark-haired preteen hadn't exactly expected a statement like that to come popping out of his senior's mouth; in fact, the words took him by surprise. Throughout the years he had known him, Gintoki hadn't really displayed any sort of affection or liking to children, much less babysitting. Perhaps their short time of caring for the adorable baby Kagura had changed something in the white haired man.

Shinpachi smiled at the thought. To think that someone as lazy, uncaring and indolent would sudden posses a fondness for children. "Why is that, Gin-san?"

"'Cause we get paid for lazing around," Gintoki deadpanned, yawning as he sprawled across the couch. "And when the parents roll around, we can just lie and say we changed a diaper or something. Good way to earn money, hmm, Pattsuan?"

And with that, any prior thoughts were banished from the bespectacled boy's mind. He exhaled wearily, knowing that altering the mindset of someone as infuriating as Gintoki was a near impossible task. "Yeah right, Gin-san."

oooOOOooo

Kagura was very much awake. And crying. Very freakishly loudly.

"Kagura-chan, _please_, calm down!" a concerned Shinpachi pleaded, cradling the screaming child in his arms. His expression spelt countless words into the air – worry, anxiety, wariness – as he rocked the sobbing girl to and fro in a desperate attempt at halting her wails. In a final effort in comforting the shrieking girl, the dark haired boy brandished the baby rattle in a fist and smashed it over the permed silver head of the older man. The blow sent Gintoki staggering amidst a myriad of curses, but Shinpachi was a bit too bent at calming Kagura down to notice the pain his senior was currently suffering through – and promptly bashed him across the head again with increased vigor. "Look, Kagura-chan! I'm hitting Gin-san! Isn't that funny?"

"Like hell it is!" Gintoki hissed, snatching the plastic toy from the younger boy's hand. "You're gonna crack open my freakin' head!"

"Maybe she's just hungry!" Shinpachi thrust the thrashing child in Gintoki's direction, whom recoiled from her flailing limbs before more pain could be inflicted on his person. "Here, Gin-san; hold her and try to calm her down! I'm going to see whether I can find some milk or something!"

"'Calm her down'? How do expect me to do that?" Gintoki took the screaming girl into his arms and held her at arm's length, careful not to get smacked square in the face by a frantically floundering arm. But Shinpachi had already scurried into the kitchen in a desperate attempt at locating some food, and Gintoki was left alone in the living room with a screaming child whose crying was amplifying to almost unspeakable volumes. Cautiously, the silver-haired man awkwardly patted the girl on the back, and almost immediately the wailing seemed to subside. Cerulean-blue eyes gazed expectantly up at the man, whom just cocked an eyebrow at her curiously.

"What? What do you want me to do?" Gintoki grunted, and in response to this the vermillion-haired child stretched stubby arms upwards in his direction. The petite hands flailed in the air, hopeful, and Gintoki could only sigh wearily at the expectant expression that had spread across the chubby face. Seeing that he had no other choice but to comply to her wishes, the man lifted the girl to his shoulder, hugging the tiny boy to his chest. Tiny fists grabbed hold of the white outfit he donned, and she rested her tiny head on the reluctant man's shoulder to signify her content. Gintoki could only shake his head in disdain at the awkwardness of the situation, considering that, up until this point, he had never embraced a child of any age, much less a vermillion-haired rascal that thought banging him across the head with a rattle was _funny_.

"Good news, Gin-san! I found the milk-" Shinpachi emerged from the kitchen in a harried jog, a canister of milk powder clutched within a fist, when he suddenly stopped to process the image that awaited him outside – Gintoki, hugging the child to his chest with an expression that could only be deemed as smug.

"Well?" he loftily informed him, shifting the weight of the child in his arms. "She stopped crying."

Shinpachi could only grin and nod. Perhaps his senior really was warming up to the girl after all.

oooOOOooo

Soon enough, the three hours in which they had been hired to babysit Kagura was up, and Gintoki, whom all the while had insisted he hold the little rascal to insure that "she doesn't assault my head again, mind you", finally returned the now sleeping vermillion-haired child to her crib. They stood by the doorway, waiting as the father – a grouchy man whom had lost all his hair – rummaged through his wallet for their first payment in the entire summer.

"Well, Gin-san," Shinpachi smiled wistfully as Gintoki counted the bills in his hand, grin widening as he progressed through the wad of cash, "that wasn't too bad, was it?"

Gintoki could only agree with his statement – but for another reason altogether. "Definitely, Pattsuan; but before we head home, hitting the Pachinko Parlor for a bit wouldn't hurt, would it?"

He was mistaken; for it very much _did hurt, _especially since Shinpachi had decided that a well-aimed punch to the bruise on his scalp was the appropriate response to his out-of-the-line request. Gintoki's compulsive gambling habits had squandered their cash more times than he could remember, and he was reluctant to allow it to happen again.

"Kagura-chan wasn't bad, right?" Shinpachi remarked as Gintoki proceeded to massage the now very much aching sore on his head, "we should babysit her again, sometime."

"Are you nuts?" Gintoki cocked an eyebrow in his direction, his impassive carnelian eyes expressing his obvious disdain to his suggestion. "The kid's a demon; I'm not exactly looking forward to getting my head split open the next time we set foot in there."

Shinpachi just shook his head and turned back to look at the household they had just left behind. As they walked down the road, shoes thumping against the dark asphalt, the bespectacled boy could see the cozy home recede against the horizon streaked with the colors of approaching sunset. He wondered when Kagura would next need a babysitter again. "I don't know about you, Gin-san, but I don't think Kagura-chan was that bad at all."

Gintoki pondered over this for a moment, and as Shinpachi once again craned his neck to see the house that was disappearing into the faraway distance, he found himself smiling, in spite of himself. "Yeah," he stated, tucking the cash into his pocket, "I guess she wasn't."


End file.
